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"WiMaxing" in China [24.09.07]

I met Mr. Mohhamad Shakouri, the WiMax Forum Chairman, at many forums and conferences.  He is an excellent speaker, especially when he begins to speak about WiMax technology.  On this topic he can easily put both Tony Robbins and Zig Zaggler to shame!  During the plenary session at the Asia Broadband Forum, Shakouri told me that in the next year or two China will witness a serious breakthrough in WiMax.  “You see, presently all the efforts of the Chinese government are thrown into ensuring the success of Beijing Olympics 2008.  Once it’s over, I see only a green light for WiMax in China, there is no doubt,” explained Shakouri.

Shakouri believes that the market players in China clearly realize that WiMax is a complimentary technology, and it does not compete with 3G.  All WiMax networks that are currently on trial in China are operating in 802.16d and the 3.5 GHz frequency band.  In 2001 MII allocated 3.5 GHz of the frequency spectrum to 6 operators in 300 Chinese cities.  “This spectrum can now be used for WiMax,” said Shakouri.  “The WiMax Forum is working with several key players from the Chinese telecom sector.  And there is no competition from the WiMax side to TD-SCDMA.”

Shakouri says that the four largest operators in China vary in terms of WiMax development.  Сhina Network launched several trial WiMax networks nationwide.  China Тelecom also deployed several networks in northern China.  However, some operators like China Unicom consider WiMax’s use only within its fixed network.  At the same time, China Mobile is considering using WiMax to offer high-speed Internet services.

Still, Shakouri expects that WiMax will start spreading its wings in China in 2008.  This may happen after MII adopts the Chinese version of 802.16d standard in the end of 2007 or at the beginning of 2008.  In parallel, the China Communication Standards’ Association is working on developing a Chinese version of the 802.16e standard, due to be approved by MII in 2008.  Further WiMax project development will get into the fast growth stage from 2009 to 2010.  By 2011, Shakouri forecasts that there will be over 1 million WiMax users in China.